BOSTON — Here we go again.
That usually means something bad, but the Bruins don’t think it has to work out that way.
Their points streak ended after 18 games (14-0-4) with Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Ducks. But the B’s intend to start a new one on Thursday night against the Blues. It won’t be easy, because the Blues (31-18-3) are good, are usually very good at the Garden (8-1 in the last nine visits), and the [...]
BOSTON — Here we go again.
That usually means something bad, but the Bruins don’t think it has to work out that way.
Their points streak ended after 18 games (14-0-4) with Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Ducks. But the B’s intend to start a new one on Thursday night against the Blues. It won’t be easy, because the Blues (31-18-3) are good, are usually very good at the Garden (8-1 in the last nine visits), and the Bruins aren’t whole: No Brad Marchand, no Charlie McAvoy, no Noel Acciari, no Anders Bjork.
“Not insignificant players,” said winger David Backes, the former Blues captain who seemed in danger of missing a game against his former team when Ducks winger Nick Ritchie knocked him out of Tuesday’s contest with a late hit.
What’s easy to forget, since it started in mid-November, is that the Bruins got hot long before the points streak began on Dec. 16, and did so despite the absence of significant players.
Backes (colon surgery) was one of them. Marchand (upper body injury) was another. The names of David Krejci, Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid also appear on the list. In mid-November, however, the B’s began a 9-2 run, then rolled off a 5-3 loss to the Capitals on Dec. 14 before starting the second-longest points streak in franchise history.
“We know we can win with less than 100 percent lineup,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think we understand what it takes.”
With scoring leader Marchand suspended for three more games and puck-moving rookie McAvoy out for a still-undetermined period after last week’s procedure to treat an abnormal heart rhythm, the Bruins think they’ll have to make some short-term adjustments.
“You’ve got to be good defensively … when you lose some of your skill guys who you rely on to score,” Cassidy said. “It’s a good formula to stay in games.”
“I think we’ve shown the character to probably simplify our game,” Backes added, “and look to play a 2-1 game rather than a 5-4 game where we’re going to go up and down the ice and play run and gun with somebody.”
The Bruins could also help themselves by being ready from the opening faceoff. Tuesday’s game was the eighth straight in which they surrendered the first goal, and while they went 6-0-1 in the first seven and are 11-10-3 for the season when falling behind 0-1, it’s not like they’re Comeback Kings, either: When trailing after the first period, the Bruins are 1-8-3; down after the second, their record is 1-10-3.
Cassidy and his staff have been considering potential causes — complacency, motivated opponents, stale game-day routine — and fixes, but “at the end of the day, I think it’s just on the group to understand that it’s not acceptable any more — especially at home,” the coach said. “You should be well-rested. You should have the jump at home, and not feel out the game.”
Backes is on board there, too.
“That needs to be an area of focus, an area of change,” he said. “If we start on time, typically our games are really good.”
Around the boards
Backes, who went through the NHL’s concussion protocol after Ritchie’s check sent him out of Tuesday’s game with 5:17 to play, said he “wasn’t real pleased” with the hit. “I think those are the types of hits we’re trying to get out of the game: Late, inconsequential — the puck’s not there — and it’s a little high,” said Backes, who was following through on a shot attempt when Ritchie caught him. “If [Ritchie] finishes me through the body, I probably go flying just as much, if that’s what his prerogative is.” Ritchie wasn’t penalized on the play, and no discipline or fine was announced by the NHL on Wednesday. … Winger Peter Cehlarik, whose training camp was delayed by offseason shoulder surgery and his regular season interrupted by a knee injury, was recalled from AHL Providence on an emergency basis. … Neither Acciari (lower body) nor Bjork (upper body injury, sustained on Tuesday) skated on Wednesday; Cassidy said both are day-to-day. McAvoy skated for the third straight day, before the rest of the team practiced.